jethro779 Loc: Tucson, AZ

As I use my cameras I am finding that I have a need to use a flash, but don't have any idea of what techniques work in any given situation. Has anybody read the book " Nikon Sppedlight Handbook: Flash Techniques for Digital Photographers" and is there maybe a better book out there?

Erik_H Loc: Denham Springs, Louisiana

If you're a nikon shooter then Mike Hagens'"The Nikon Creative Lighting System" is a must have guidebook. It covers their speedlights from the SB-600 through SB-910 and explains how the whole Creative Lighting System works.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Look up Joe McNally if you seriously want to learn how to use speedlights.
He has several good books and gives great workshops.

Neil van Niekerk is another good one to study.



(I'd give links but I'm on my iPhone and have limited service)

Cheers!

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

This is an amazing resource - http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/

AZNikon Loc: Mesa, AZ

When I looked this book up on Amazon the "look inside" feature mentioned nikononions.org which I have not heard of. I went to the site and joined for a $25 silver membership. There are all kinds of forums there on every topic. I justify this to myself by saying the book would have cost me $16.99 for the Kindle edition, so for a few dollars more I got the Nikon community (which I didn't know about) for a year. But of course I may get the book too. Cool! Thanks, Bob


:thumbup: :thumbup:

lathropski Loc: Boise, ID

I have and thorough enjoy Neil Van Niekerk's books: "On Camera Flash" and "Off Camera Flash". Link belows describes all his informative books. And his site is great, too.

http://neilvn.com/tangents/about/book1/

anotherview Loc: California

Start here. I did, and at last learned how to do photography with flash lighting:

http://neilvn.com/tangents/about/book1/

Happy Holidays.

CO

Bryan Peterson's book "Understanding Flash Photography" is excellent. He starts with how flash works and then moves into techniques. I always used my flash in TTL mode only until I took a seminar he gave on flash photography and bought his book. He often has both the camera and flash in manual mode. This is great to use when your main subject is close to the camera. You have more control over the exposure on the main subject and background.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

Before you make any decision and there are excellent books on using flsh out there I would recommend that you take a look to www.planetneil.com, the web site of South African photographer Neil van Nierker who has an excellent chapter on how to use flash photography in his website.
Another very useful good source of information was written in Nikonians.org by Russ McDonald called "Nikon CLS Practical Guide" a very useful guide that among other things discusses the difference between TTL and TTL-BL flash.
The references you have been given are also excellent source of information.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

I have never been a fan of Bryan Peterson but that is me. TTL flash is what we have had till more recently when modern flashes began to make our lives easier.
Nikon uses two different modalities, TTL and TTL-BL. When using TTL the flash meter and camera meter do not communicate with each other. It is an excellent modality for indoor lighting when there is not enough ambient light because it takes the subject into consideration ignoring the background. TTL-BL is a different story, flash meter and camera meter communicate and compensate each other during the exposure. It is the preferred method for fill-in flash outdoors since the flash meter compensates the exposure by minus 1 stop or so. TTL flash can also be used under these conditions but the light from the flash should be cut by at least 1.5 stops or the background will end up with overexposure.
I find TTL flash convenient and I use it often. When I use TTL-BL for fill-in I usually underexpose by 1 stop which is added to the underexposure offered by the flash.
Yes, camera and flash in manual mode is helpful but there are many times when going auto is the right thing to do as many wedding photographers will tell you.
It is very difficult to be disappointed in the exposure offered by TTL-BL outdoors when using the flash at close range. More modern flashes are very good using TTL-BL even in places where the ambient light is low.
My SB-600 is most of the time in TTL not becauise it is most convenient but because that is the flash modality I know better and use more often.

Whuff Loc: Marshalltown, Iowa

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

ptcanon3ti Loc: NJ

Is this specific to Nikon speed light system?

CO

Nikon Creative Lighting System Digital Field Guide, 3rd edition by Benjamin Edwards is very good. About the first half of the book describes the operation of Nikon flashes and the rest has flash techniques. This edition has been updated to include the SB-910.